George R.R. Martin’s books about the fantasy world of Ice and Fire have already become truly super-popular. The greatest interest in them was aroused thanks to the famous series “Game of Thrones”, which is based on the books of this cycle. But even before the film adaptation of Martin’s works, a board game of the same name was created for the series.
Its creator is Christian Petersen, and it was released into the world by Fantasy Flight Games in 2003. Its main characters are the Great Houses from the books: the Starks, the Lannisters, the Greyjoys, the Baratheons, the Tyrells, and more recently, the Martells, as well as the Arryns. Of course, they are fighting for supreme power over the Seven Kingdoms and trying to take the Iron Throne. The number of players varies from three to six people. The condition for victory is the occupation of the largest number of captured castles and fortresses at the end of the tenth round or the seizure of power over a predetermined number of the same castles and fortresses. First, each player must choose a House for himself, and then place miniatures of troops on the map, tokens that indicate the influence of the chosen House, as well as victories and supplies. The decks of Westeros are also mixed and divided into stacks according to the numbers on the pieces of paper. The Wildling deck, as well as the threat token, are also placed in advance. The total preparation time of everything necessary for the party takes less than ten minutes.
Each game has ten rounds, which are divided into the Westeros phase, the conception phase and the action phase. Already on the second move, players need to turn over the cards of Westeros and do what is written on them. During the design phase, the participants of the game must place their tokens with orders face down in the regions where their units are located. And in the last phase of actions, these orders are carried out by detachments. Players need to walk in order according to the provisions of their House on the Iron Throne Track. During the execution of the move, they execute the orders first of the raid, then of the campaign and at the very end of the power gain round. The winner of the battle is the player whose units total strength in the region will be the greatest. In case of questions outside the battle, they are considered by the participant of the game who owns the Iron Throne token, and are resolved according to his desire. After the end of the round of actions, everything starts anew.
During its existence, the game has acquired four additions with new maps and scenario changes. In 2011, the publishing company announced that another edition of Game of Thrones was being developed with minor gameplay changes.
And already this year the mobile game Game of Thrones was released — Behind the Wall. Based on the well-known series, developed by a Canadian company together with HBO.
